Hot Tub

[swirlygirl]

Guess what I've just discovered?!?! Soaking in a hot tub today reduced my blood sugar 28 points! I thought maybe it was a fluke, then I searched online and found that some widely accepted studies confirm this effect.
http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/1999/11/01/1681.html

I moved a couple years ago, and when I did, I left behind my jacuzzi bathtub that I used to soak in almost every day. We don't have a tub in our new home, and just got the hot tub set up this week. So, for the past 2 years I've been missing my regular soak, and also, in the past two years, my blood sugar has just risen to the "clinical" level.

Coincidence? I think not.

So, if you're not already doing it, I strongly recommend regular bath or hot tub soaks.

[Didy]

I wonder if you could get your doctor to prescribe a hot tub??? Makes sense to me!!

[dancinbr]

Guess what I've just discovered?!?! Soaking in a hot tub today reduced my blood sugar 28 points! I thought maybe it was a fluke, then I searched online and found that some widely accepted studies confirm this effect.
http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/1999/11/01/1681.html

I moved a couple years ago, and when I did, I left behind my jacuzzi bathtub that I used to soak in almost every day. We don't have a tub in our new home, and just got the hot tub set up this week. So, for the past 2 years I've been missing my regular soak, and also, in the past two years, my blood sugar has just risen to the "clinical" level.

Coincidence? I think not.

So, if you're not already doing it, I strongly recommend regular bath or hot tub soaks.

What blows my mind about that article is A1C of 11.2 being brought down to 10.2.

Not bad for an effect. But where the heck is the sanity in these studies.

Why doesn't the "mainstream" medical community get with it and realize that to control diabetes you want your A1C very much under 6.0, preferably under 5.0.

Simply amazing.


I wonder if there is a similar effect for those who are controlling their BGs and are member of the 5 club already???

Ralph

[Rose1942]

Ralph you are certainly right about the A1c. I have only had one test done so far almost 3 months ago and it was 5.9 which my doctor said was very good. I questioned that recently and he still said it was fine. Well, I will be looking forward to the next test I get, because I am betting that it will have come down since low carbing. Under 5 would be great, hope I can achieve that eventually.

As to the hot tub, that is very interesting. We used to have a whirlpool tub in this house but the motor got fried in a t-storm a few summers ago (thankfully no one was IN it!) Since then we have had the bathroom remodeled and didn't replace it. But I think perhaps a regular tub bath would do the same, as mentioned in the article. Just not quite as luxurious. Nothing like that whole body immersion, so relaxing!

[v-effect]

Wow- if I had an A1C of under 5, I'd probably be dead from lows!
Re: the hottub- I did get my doctor to prescribe one. I use it for fun, and whenever I have a pesky high bg I need to reduce. I generally get a 30-40 point drop, PLUS I lower my basals by 20 % for an hour or so after!
V.

[swirlygirl]

My BG was 128 and it lowered to 102... so I don't think you have to be at the super high end of BG readings to get the effect. I don't use insulin or stimulators, so lows aren't a worry for me.

[Korban]

Dr. B. talks about the difference in insulin requirements during cold (winter) vs warm (summer) periods and speculates that warm weather causes one to require less insulin due to the increased dilation (is that a redundancy?) of peripheral blood vessels during warm weather and the resulting increase in delivery of glucose and insulin to the peripheral tissues.

Easy for me to speculate on Dr. B.'s speculation that hot tubbing may be related to the above phenomena. However, I have no direct experience with either at the moment so my comment should bear little weight in the scheme of things. It is interesting though.

/smile

[dancinbr]

Well there you have it.

Unfortunately, my wife hates hot tubs. She worries about germs etc. We never had one put into our house for our exclusive use.

Lots of informative comments.

Thanks,

Ralph